It’s 12:16 on a Friday afternoon in Hachenburg and sustained applause resounds amidst emotional moments in the university’s large lecture hall. A visibly moved Erich Keller, the university’s long-standing rector, has just finished his farewell speech. His career at the Bundesbank began almost half a century earlier – and now 65 years old, he is still able to recall his first visit to Frankfurt for his application in the spring of 1980: “The Central Office building was by far the ugliest thing I had ever seen.” 

Binding values in Hachenburg

Nevertheless, this day remained a fond memory for Keller, as he met other candidates there for the first time who would go on to study with him in Hachenburg and remain good friends with him right up to the present day. Two were actually present at the farewell ceremony, and one, Edgar Brandt, had even been his best man. “Friendships and networks that are formed here in Hachenburg are decisive and binding elements,” emphasised the outgoing rector. This was one of the reasons Keller decided to return to Hachenburg as a lecturer after his studies at Goethe University Frankfurt, which he completed with a prize-winning dissertation – rejecting the offers of two other universities in the process.

It was in Hachenburg that he pursued his career, and he was appointed rector there in 2006. In his speech, Keller did not however omit the difficult moments that he faced as a lecturer there. For example, the survival of the university was left hanging in the balance due to falling student numbers in the wake of the structural reform in 2002. And neither did he conceal the fact that his goal of introducing a master’s degree programme at the university has not yet been achieved. “Well, you do have to leave something for your successors,” he said, tongue in cheek. 

Above all, however, Erich Keller thanked many people within the Bundesbank, and elsewhere, who had supported him throughout his career – from the personnel who keep the student accommodation running smoothly, to the teaching staff and even external contacts at municipalities in the Westerwald region. He gave a special mention to his longtime secretary Iris Mies, his deputy Andreas Kremer – and his wife Birgit: “You have always encouraged me and been a great support. Now that I will be ‘reporting’ to you in future, so to speak, I hope that you will be as patient with me as the Bundesbank has been.”

Open dialogue, foresight, and dynamic pace

Andreas Kremer, deputy rector at Hachenburg, also addressed Keller’s wife: “I’m not sure which of us has spent more time with your husband in recent years.” In his work with Keller, he particularly praised the “open dialogue” that Keller so greatly valued and concluded by saying: “I hope that we at the university will be able to maintain your foresight and your dynamic pace.”

© Tim Röder-Moldenhauer

Not just leading the university, but embodying it

Executive Board member Lutz Lienenkämper, whose remit covers the University of Applied Sciences, paid tribute to Keller’s achievements: “You didn’t just lead this university, you embodied it and you leave behind a lasting legacy.” The outgoing rector was notable for his combination of competence, commitment, and creative drive, said Lienenkämper: “You covered the entire spectrum: academic excellence, teaching, ensuring the university’s place in Hachenburg, and pastoral care.”He highlighted Keller’s achievements in switching to the bachelor’s degree programme and international cooperation. “The list of your achievements is long – it wouldn't be possible to mention all of them here,” the Executive Board member said, adding: “I would also like to explicitly thank you for sometimes being somewhat difficult. Because it’s only then that one can move things forward.” 

© Tim Röder-Moldenhauer

© Tim Röder-Moldenhauer

Executive Board member Burkhard Balz, whose remit covered the university prior to Lienenkämper, also travelled to Hachenburg to thank Keller: “I don't know a single university lecturer in Germany who has taken more care of the education of his students than you, Professor Keller. I am deeply impressed by your career achievements.” 

© Tim Röder-Moldenhauer

In addition, at the end of the event, Sabine Herrmann, Head of Directorate General Human Resources, presented the outgoing rector with a Bundesbank certificate of appreciation on behalf of Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel. 

© Tim Röder-Moldenhauer

Cheerfulness and zest for life

As Erich Keller had also been a representative on the Steering Committee of the Rectors’ Conference of Public Sector Institutions of Higher Education for more than a decade, the Chairman of the Rectors’ Conference, Jürgen Stember, also addressed guests. He paid tribute not only to Keller’s ideas and creativity on this committee, but also to his “cheerfulness and zest for life”. “We will miss your energy and expertise in future,” Mr Stember said. 

And this will probably be felt particularly strongly at the Bundesbank’s University of Applied Sciences itself, as was impressively demonstrated once again on the day of the ceremony. For, after the official ceremony was over, Mr Keller went back to his office for a few hours to look through student presentations which he had to evaluate and grade by the following Monday. 

© Tim Röder-Moldenhauer